Mickelberg sues hardware giant Bunnings

Ray Mickelberg, who was wrongly jailed for the 1982 Perth Mint swindle, is suing Bunnings after being acquitted of stealing a fan and a roll of tape from the hardware giant.

In the Perth District Court on Tuesday, a lawyer for Bunnings applied to have Mr Mickelberg's civil action for damages struck out.

Mr Mickelberg, who is representing himself in a civil action for damages, accuses Bunnings of attempting to pervert the course of justice in pursuing the stealing charges against him.

In April last year Mr Mickelberg was acquitted in the Supreme Court of stealing a $16.80 roll of tape from Bunnings.

He had been found guilty by a Perth magistrate in August 2010 of stealing the tape from the store in the north Perth suburb of Innaloo.

Mr Mickelberg had used three strips of tape to repackage a box for a ceiling fan he had opened to inspect the item while at the Bunnings store.

He was originally charged with the theft of the $309 ceiling fan but Magistrate Giuseppe Cicchini dismissed the charge and convicted the 64-year-old only for the theft of the tape.

But in the Supreme Court, Commissioner Kevin Sleight found he had an "honest claim of right" over the tape and had intended to pay for the roll.

In the District Court on Tuesday Mr Mickelberg said evidence in the case against him had been fabricated by a Bunnings employee and that had later been proved with CCTV footage.

"Bunnings have to be held responsible for the actions of their employees," he said.

Mr Mickelberg said he had been treated with contempt by Bunnings and a miscarriage of justice had occurred.

"Somewhere down the line, in a fair system, someone has to wear it."

The court's acting principal registrar told Mr Mickelberg he was troubled by the concept that perverting the course of justice could be the basis of a civil claim.

He adjourned the matter until April 10 and asked Mr Mickelberg to file a fresh statement of claim.

Mr Mickelberg spent eight years in jail after he and his brothers Peter and Brian were framed by detectives and wrongly convicted in 1983 of stealing more than $650,000 in gold bullion from the Perth Mint.